Jinja AIDS centre gets testing unit
Sep 03, 2007
THE Aids Information Centre in Jinja has acquired a new HIV/AIDS testing machine. The digitalised and computerised machine will be used to carry out CD4/CD8 tests.
By Esther Mukyala
THE Aids Information Centre in Jinja has acquired a new HIV/AIDS testing machine. The digitalised and computerised machine will be used to carry out CD4/CD8 tests.
Paul Oboth, the centre laboratory technician, last week said the machine can establish the level of immune suppression of an HIV-positive person. The information helps determine whether the person qualifies for anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).
“Also when a patient is on ARVs, the CD4 count determines how the cells are performing. It is people with a CD4 count of below 300 cells per micro litre who qualify to get ARVs,†Oboth explained.
He said those who did not qualify were kept on septrine drugs to manage opportunistic infections. Septrine helps to regain the ability to fight infections, Oboth said.
Clients pay sh5,000 to test for a CD4/CD8 count, Oboth said.
“We now get clients from the whole Busoga region, Kayunga and Mukono districts.
THE Aids Information Centre in Jinja has acquired a new HIV/AIDS testing machine. The digitalised and computerised machine will be used to carry out CD4/CD8 tests.
Paul Oboth, the centre laboratory technician, last week said the machine can establish the level of immune suppression of an HIV-positive person. The information helps determine whether the person qualifies for anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).
“Also when a patient is on ARVs, the CD4 count determines how the cells are performing. It is people with a CD4 count of below 300 cells per micro litre who qualify to get ARVs,†Oboth explained.
He said those who did not qualify were kept on septrine drugs to manage opportunistic infections. Septrine helps to regain the ability to fight infections, Oboth said.
Clients pay sh5,000 to test for a CD4/CD8 count, Oboth said.
“We now get clients from the whole Busoga region, Kayunga and Mukono districts.